There Wainamoinen met him and asked if he had forged the magic Sampo. 'Yes,' replied Ilmarinen, 'I have forged the Sampo, with its lid of many colours. Louhi has the wondrous Sampo, but I have lost the beauteous maiden.'
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'Ah!' said little Mimi, 'old Louhi's daughter was just as mean as could be, and of course she didn't keep her promise, because Lapps never can be good people.'
'Don't be too hard on the poor Lapps, my dear,' said Father Mikko, 'for you see this happened a great many hundreds of[p. 58] years ago, and the whole world has grown better since then. But now we will leave Ilmarinen and Wainamoinen for a while, and I will tell you about the reckless Lemminkainen and his adventures.'
So the old man began as follows:
LEMMINKAINEN AND KYLLIKKI
LONG, long ago a son was born to Lempo, and he was named Lemminkainen, but some call him Ahti. He grew up amongst the islands and fed upon the salmon until he became a mighty man, handsome to look at and skilled in magic. But he was not as good as he was handsome—he had a wicked heart, and was more famous for his dancing than for great deeds.
Now at the time my story begins, there lived in the Northland a beautiful maiden named Kyllikki. She was so lovely that the Sun had begged her to marry his son and come and live with them. But she refused, and when the Moon came and besought her to marry her son, and the Evening Star sought her for his son, she refused them both. And after that came suitors from all the countries round about,[p. 60] but the lovely Kyllikki would not marry one of them.